


A Day With The Boss

by inuyori595



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Bad guy Vasquez, Fluff, Good Guy Jack, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Rhysquez, Trigger warning: past abusive relationship, rhack - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 02:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15809331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inuyori595/pseuds/inuyori595
Summary: Rhys is having a hard time and good-guy Jack helps him out.





	A Day With The Boss

Rhys took a deep breath, determined to calm the tears that threatened to burst from his brown and cyber-blue eyes, as he prepared to step through the doors to Jack’s office. Ever since he started as the older man’s PA, his boyfriend had been acting weird. And now, it all made since. Hugo had cheated on him. And Rhys felt stupid for being willing to forgive the man, only to have Vasquez leave him less than twelve hours later. And now, Rhys was here. And emotional wreck, trying in vain to stay calm. And to make it worse, he was late. Jack hated it when people were late.  
With another breath, Rhys took a shaky step into the large office. He rushed over to his desk, not looking at his boss who sat quietly glaring after the younger man. Another wave of emotion hi Rhys as he sat in his black desk chair. A hand quickly placed over his mouth to keep in the sobs that were creeping up his throat. He noticed the wetness of his cheeks. Had he been crying when he came in?  
Rhys tried to ignore the groan of Jack’s chair, indicating that the CEO was now standing.  
“Kiddo,” the older man’s voice sounded, accompanied by the light sound of his sneakers patting on the floor. He was walking towards his assistant. Jack was aware that something was wrong. The kid before him was always smiles and never missed the opportunity to say something when he entered the room. Or, at least, that’s how he was when he first started. The past couple weeks he’d grown quiet. But he was never late, in fact, he had started getting to the office before his boss. Jack stopped just behind the younger man, taking a moment to place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re late.”  
“I… I’m s-sorry, Jack. Rhys choked out. Tears blurred his vision as he covered his face.  
“Woah, easy there. I’m not gonna kill you or anything. Okay, cupcake?” Jack spoke with an uncomfortable chuckle. The older man was completely out of his element when it came to these kinds of things.  
Rhys let out a choked sob, unable to form words. He felt the hand on his shoulder tense at the sound. It was clear that the younger man was making the Hyperion CEO uncomfortable, but he couldn’t stop. All he could do was cry. Jack simply stood there, waiting for an answer.  
“I-it’s…. it’s my b-boyfriend.” Rhys finally spoke with a shaky voice. “Er… I mean… Ex-boyfriend.” Another wave of sobs.  
Jack was stunned. All this over some guy? A bad guy at that. And, if he remembered correctly, the man in question had been the biggest douche on Helios. Had been. Jack was going to have to vent him for making Rhys unable to do his job. Oooh! Or maybe pay him a special visit and watch the life drain from his eyes as he strangled Vasquez.  
Jack was ripped from his thoughts as the younger man spoke again. “He… He cheated on me. And… And I’m so stupid.” Rhys whimpered. A numbness was starting to take hold over the boy with the cybernetic arm. “I forgave him, and he left anyways.”  
A harsh silence fell over the room. Rhys, lost in a new numb feeling he was unaccustomed to. Jack stared at his PA trying to figure out how to comfort him without upsetting the kid further.  
As heavy, warm arms wrapped around him, Rhys let out a harsh laugh. Not only had he been lied to, cheated on, and dumped, but now his boss was going to kill him. He was going to die and all he could do was laugh harshly at the cruelty of it all. “It’s okay, Rhysie.” Rhys froze at the words, no longer laughing darkly. He was being hugged by Jack. Handsome freaking Jack was hugging him. Rhys leaned into the hug, unable to stop the million thoughts now running through his head. “Jack’s here.” The voice continued in a soft manner that almost seemed alien coming from the violent man. “I’ve got you. Don’t chya worry. Jack’ll take care of you.”  
Rhys let out a shaky breath, almost causing Jack to jump. But instead, Hack just hugged the kid tighter. This was how you comforted people, right? This wasn’t weird. No, it was totally normal. Totally not weird at all-  
“Thank you.” It was barely a whisper.  
“Any time, kiddo.” Rhys could almost imagine Jack smiling as he spoke. Almost. Jack didn’t smile. No, the older man would only smile if her was mad or killing someone. A crazed, deadly smile. But Rhys still loved it.  
Jack pulled his arms away from Rhys suddenly, taking a large step back as it offended. The young brunette frowned, finally turning around in his chair to look at his boss. Jack seemed lost in thought for a moment. The silence between them growing with each passing second.  
The silence was broken by Jack. “Come on, pumpkin,” he grabbed Rhys’s cybernetic arm by the wrist, carefully avoiding the brunette’s hand. He began dragging Rhys out the door, towards the elevator. “Taking the day off. We’re gonna get you some ice cream or something and then vent that asshole.”  
“Jack?”  
“I mean, who the hell does he think he is? Making my Rhysie cry. That two-timing sleazeball needs to be taught a lesson if you ask me. And even if you don’t, I had it written into the company bylaws.”  
“Jack.” Rhys tried again.  
“Know what, venting Wallethead is too kind. No. Imma strangle him and watch the life drain from his slimy face. And I’ll-”  
“Jaaaaaack” Rhys whined, finally getting the CEO’s attention. When Jack looked at him, he continued with a soft smile. “Really, I’m fine. I can work. You don’t have to do this.”  
“Nope.” Jack said matter of factly, as the elevator stopped and opened into the Hub of Heroism.  
The CEO continued walking towards one of the shops, dragging his PA behind him. The people around them either starred in confusion, or slank away in fear. But the way they looked at Rhys, it was clear Hugo was saying things. Taking notice of the poisonous looks and disgusted, judging eyes watching him, Rhys looked at the ground, another wave of emotions crashing into him. He wanted to run. To hide away from these people. But Jack was dragging him into an ice cream shop, his grip iron clad on his wrist.  
Jack looked around the shop. Even here people were giving the younger man those looks. “Everyone out.” Jack barked. Now they were looking at him, scared. Better, but Rhys still had his eyes fixed on the ground. When no one moved he growled, more threateningly this time, “Now! Or I will personally kill every one of you and send your pieces to your families in gift boxes!” That got the patrons to scramble over each other in attempts to get as far from their boss as possible.  
Jack sat Rhys at one of the now empty tables and walked off. Rhys sighed, relieved to be away from judging stares. He wondered briefly what it was that Hugo had said about him to cause such mean looks. His thoughts were interrupted by a bowl of vanilla ice cream being sat in front of him.  
Jack sat across from him, shoveling a bite of moose tracks into his mouth. The older man moaned as the chocolate hit his tongue. “I tell ya’, kiddo. This,” he shook his spoon, exaggerating his point, “this is good stuff.”  
Rhys smiled weakly, using his own spoon to poke at the pile of ice cream in front of him. As he did so, Jack eyed him suspiciously.  
“Don’t make me force feed you, princess.” Rhys looked across the table then, shocked. He barely caught the mismatched eyes winking at him playfully, causing a small blush to spread across his cheeks.  
“P-please don’t.” Rhys stumbled over his words.  
Jack’s laugh boomed in the empty shop. “I’m only kidding, Rhysie.” There was a pause. “Well, kinda kidding.”  
Brown and blue eyes widened. “W-what do you mean?” Rhys sniffled a little, the crying spell still having a small effect on him.  
“Shuddup and eat, babe.” Jack grinned as Rhys continued to stare at him. Bab? That was a new one. “Or does Daddy need to feed you?”  
Rhys blinked twice. “Okay, no.” He used the spoon to scoop up some of the vanilla goodness. “One, that’s gross. And two, you are definitely not my ‘daddy’.”  
Jack laughed then, pointing his spoon at Rhys. “Ha! Oh man. You.” He laughed some more, breathing hard as he did so. “Your face. Priceless!” He wiped away a tear of laughter that tricked at the edge of his green eye.  
“Not that funny.” Rhys pouted, shoveling more ice cream into his mouth. And God did it taste good. When was the last time he had indulged in his favorite treat? It’d been months. All because of Hugo Vasquez. Rhys had been eating a bowl of his favorite snack when the man had made a comment about taking it easy cause he was getting fat. Rhys frowned at the memory, letting his spoon drop into the bowl.  
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay there, sunshine?”  
“Yeah. I just...” Rhys sighed, running a hand through his slicked back hair. He smiled weakly, pushing the bowl away, “I don’t eat this stuff anymore.”  
Jack looked at the slim man as if he were a math problem to be solved. He’d noticed over the past few weeks Rhys getting slimmer. He was looking more worn and less lively with each passing day. He narrowed his eyes at the younger man, using his free hand to push the bowl back. His tone was deadly, “Eat.”  
Rhys swallowed the lump in his throat, picking back up his spoon and tentatively taking another bite. No one disobeyed a direct order from Jack. He didn’t remember anything ever tasting as good, but a part of him knew it was only because of the recent lack of food. Being refused meals made it to where everything he did eat tasted like it was the best thing in the world.  
A smug grin etched across Jack’s face as he watched his assistant eat for the first time in weeks.  
“You know,” Jack spoke, breaking the comfortable silence that had blanketed over them, “I can’t have my assistant passing out from malnutrition.”  
Rhys choked on his last bite of ice cream. “W-what?!” How long had Jack known?  
The CEO’s eyes darkened as he looked directly at Rhys. The kid began to squirm under the heavy gaze of those blue and green mismatched eyes. “Unless you want an all expenses payed trip out of an air lock, you are going to start taking care of yourself. No more lying. No more hiding away. No more starving yourself. No more cover up on bruises. And if that dirt bad, Vasquez, so much as looks your direction, you come straight to me. And I will slaughter him where he stands. Got it, kiddo?”  
“I-i… How… Y-yes, Jack, sir.” Rhys stumbled over his words, his mind racing a mile a minute. He had thought he was hiding it all so well. But, apparently, he had been wrong.  
“Oh, princess.” Rhys couldn’t tell if the tone was mocking or sympathetic, but it was deadly nonetheless. “You can’t hide anything from me. And now that you’re not defending that pathetic waste of space, I can finally kill him for laying a finger on my sweet Rhysie.” A dark smile stretched onto Jack’s face.  
Rhys just stared at Jack, unsure of what to say or do. He couldn’t understand why the older man, who could kill without so much as a bat of the eye, was so invested in his wellbeing. Rhys couldn’t help but feel he had missed something important.  
Jack leaned back in his chair, once again taking a relaxed tone. “Once you’re done, I’ll take you home. Sound good?” he raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.  
“Oh no.” Rhys gasped, tears in his eyes once more. He shook his head, panic over taking him. “I… I can’t. He’s there. I don’t have anywhere to go.”  
“Then you can stay in my penthouse.” Jack said, with a clap of his hands. It came off as more of a demand than a suggestion. Rhys’s mouth hung open slightly as he stared at Jack. This was unheard of. No one even knew what Jack’s penthouse looked like. Not even any of the older man’s various lovers had been there. “As far as clothes go, you can just borrow some of mine from my days as an engineer.”  
“B-but…” Rhys blinked a few times before looking down at the table. “If I don’t go home… I’ll get in trouble again.” His voice was barely a whisper, as if speaking some forbidden thing.  
Jack stared at Rhys. Everything from the past few months coming together. Angel had been right. Of course, she was. He couldn’t remember why he had her start keeping tabs on the younger man, but he had. Perhaps it had been the sudden increase in time off for medical reasons, or the growing tiredness that clung to the kid. But was really gave it away was probably the way he had begun to get nervous and jumpy anytime Jack had one of his episodes. At first the CEO thought maybe he’d done something, but had that been the case, the kid would be dead.  
His thoughts were interrupted by a small shaky voice from the shop’s counter. “Handsome Jack, sir? We’re getting ready to close… if that’s okay with you.”  
“Yeah yeah.” He waved his hand dismissively at the lady as he stood. He looked back at the battered man before him. “Are you going to follow, or do I need to carry you?” Rhys stood then, deciding that the best course of action was to follow his boss.

 

 

The penthouse suite wasn’t exactly what Rhys expected. Everything was sleek, and modern, and new, but it was also homely. A few pictures of a raven-haired girl littered the space. The kitchen seemed to be well used, as did the living room area. There were a few closed doors down a hallway that lead to an enormous bathroom. And the whole place smelled of leather, gunpowder, and musk. It smelled like Jack. And Rhys found it intoxicating.  
Jack plopped down on the soft looking black sofa, flipping on the large TV. He looked at Rhys, making the younger man swallow. He spoke, patting the spot next to him, “Come sit down, kiddo. Make yourself at home.”  
“O-okay.” Rhys stumbled over his words, still taking in the area. The place was huge and much nicer than the small apartment he shared with Vasquez. The tall brunette sat next to his boss as he was told, mind lost in thought.  
“Pretty nice, isn’t it?” The older man purred, instinctively stretching his arm out along the back of the couch, behind Rhys. Rhys simply nodded. Jack watched his PA quietly as the younger man slipped off his skag skin boots, pulling his long legs up underneath himself.  
“So, this is where you live?” Rhys seemed to be in awe. The CEO simply chuckled in response, turning his attention back to the TV.  
After a while, Jack turned to the younger man, prepared to offer a beverage, only to find him leaning against the back of the sofa, asleep. “Of course, you’re tired.” The older man frowned slightly before getting up.

 

Rhys woke in a dark, familiar room. The walls, once plastered in posters of Handsome Jack, were now bare where Hugo had torn them down during a fit of rage. Sitting up, he noticed his head spinning. Rhys frowned. Had he acted up again? Looking around, he noticed glass still on the ground from earlier that morning.  
The man let out a whimper as he tiptoed around the glass to his bedroom door.  
Cracking open the door, the brunette looked around, seeing a light on in the room on the other side of the house.  
“H-hugo?” Rhys whined quietly, approaching the door.  
A muscular, large, bearded man stepped out of the room, looking unhappily at the thin man before him. “Rhys. You’re awake.” He grumbled. Rhys responded by looking down, rubbing his robotic wrist. A large hand roughly grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at the bearded man. “Look at me when I speak to you.” The older man growled. “Or do I need to punish you again?”  
“N-no, sir.” The brown and cyber-blue-eyed boy whispered shakily.  
“Good boy.” Vasquez let got of the smaller man momentarily before bringing his hand hard across Rhys’s face, causing the boy’s eyes to tear up.  
“I-I’m sorry…” Rhys choked out, unsure of what he had done to anger the larger man.  
Vasquez pushed past Rhys, grabbing something from the counter, and turning back to the younger man. “You know damn well what you did, Rhys.” Each word was laced with venom. “Sleeping with your boss like a dirty little slut. I could almost kill you.”  
A sharp pain. Hard and rough and excruciating. Wetness. Hugo grinned darkly. He stabbed me. Rhys’s mind screamed at him, clouded by pain. Suddenly he was against the cold ground, his life pooling beneath him.

 

Rhys shot up, waking in a cold sweat, a scream ripped from his throat as the dream faded away. He was shaking, breathing in sharp gasps, tears streaming down is cheeks. And he was alone.  
Then Jack was there. Holding him, rocking him slowly, shooshing him. He was telling him it was okay and it was just a dream. But Rhys didn’t hear him, his mind stuck on the horrors of the nightmare. 

“Rhysie,” Jack was talking to him. Jack, though not completely sure what to do, did know how much nightmares could wear down on a person. He himself went many sleepless nights due to them. The difference was, the younger man had cried out, something Jack never would have done.  
Jack tried again, rubbing a soothing hand on the boy’s back. “Rhys, you’re okay. I’m here.” His response was a sniffle, and an arm wiping away tears.  
“S-sorry.” It was quiet and choked.  
“It’s okay, kitten. I wasn’t asleep anyway.” The older man lifted his hand, with the intention to ruffle his PA’s hair. But Rhys flinched, causing him to abandon the thought.  
At the slightest tell of disappointment that had visited the face of the CEO for a split second, Rhys began to cry once more. Why was it that he always did something wrong? Always making people unhappy. Rhys was beside himself with the thought, trying to understand, when warm arms wrapped around him.  
Jack leaned his head into the younger man’s shoulder, the angle of the hug hurting his neck. “I’m not gonna hurt ya’, kiddo.” It was stern, but Jack forced a softer tone to his voice. A tone that he was certain he hadn’t used in years, not even with his own daughter. Okay, so, maybe this was getting a little weird… Jack shrugged the thought away.


End file.
